


The Call

by afewmistakesago



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Canon, F/M, and nostalgia, it's a phone call, set in season six, with angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 04:32:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7998751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afewmistakesago/pseuds/afewmistakesago
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on a set spoiler that Belle drops something off at Mr. Gold's shop. Rumple calls her to thank her for the sonogram photo, despite a recent fight making them keep their distance from each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Call

His hands were shaking as he clicked her contact, pressing the call button. Rumplestiltskin doesn’t know when she dropped this off, when she was within yards of him, but she had been. In his left hand, he held a sonogram photo. His eyes hadn’t left it since he’d picked it up. He was lucky it hadn’t been stepped on or that the weather hadn’t ruined it.

She’d left it on the shop step, not his mailbox. It was like she could tell he hardly went home anymore. It was because he still thought of it as her home, too, even though she hadn’t been there in weeks. He saw her - her ghost, more like - sitting in the living room, legs tucked in, entranced in a novel. He saw her in the kitchen, fumbling with a recipe, kissing his cheek and asking if he could “just magic something up?” sweetly. He saw her on the other side of bed, cozied up under piles of blankets. But she was never really there.

And now she’d left him a sonogram photo. That was kind of her - the last time they’d spoken, things had been more than tense, both of their voices rising as they argued about love and True Love and their child and their future. They’d never agreed on much, but God, he still loved her. 

Rumple was still in the shop, sitting in the back room, waiting to see if she’d pick up. He wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t. The line rang for a moment, and then it clicked.

“Rumple?”

“Belle.”

“You got the photo,” she said.

“Yes,” he said, the corner of the picture’s edges already folding in due to his grip. 

“Good,” Belle said simply. They both went quiet.

 

\---

 

She was in the tiny kitchen of the library apartment when he called, making herself dinner. It was hardly gourmet, a pre-made salad and some pasta, but she couldn’t snap her fingers and have a three course meal prepared. Rumple used to do that, and some nights she missed his cooking more than she should have.

Belle wasn’t surprised when he called, in fact, she’d been half expecting it, but something in her felt uneasy when she saw his name on the caller ID. She exhaled, pulling her long cardigan closer around herself as she answered. After confirming the photo, she wasn’t sure what to say. He went first.

“When was your appointment?” he asked.

“Yesterday,” she answered. “I had them give me two copies. Of the photo. I thought you would want one.”

“Yes, thank you,” he said softly. “I really appreciate it.”

“That’s our baby,” she said warmly, one hand falling to her stomach, balancing the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she moved things around in the kitchen.

“He’s beautiful,” Rumple said, and she felt herself chuckle.

“He’s a very blurry blob, but yes. Beautiful,” she said, pausing. “He?”

“I just have a feeling,” he said.

“Me too,” she confessed. “Ariel went with me to my appointment, by the way.”

“Yeah? That’s nice.”

She had thought about inviting him, just for a moment. But the last time they’d talked, it hadn’t ended well for either of them and her feelings and his were both still hurt. Belle sat down at the table, staring at her food.

“She was sweet about it.”

“What’s wrong?” he said, sensing the ache in her voice.

“It’s… It was kind of hard for her, I think. Her and Eric have been trying for a baby for a while, no luck. And I -  we - weren’t even trying.”

“Oh.”

“I just felt guilty,” Belle said. 

  
  


\---

 

They definitely hadn’t been trying to have a baby, she was right about that. Getting pregnant and then going to hell was probably the worst timing, ever. He was in his car now. It was late, and maybe he could try sleeping at home tonight. It was probably illegal to talk on the phone and drive but the Sheriff’s had far greater issues than that.

“What are you doing right now?” he asked, changing the subject gently - and he was curious, he could hear her moving around.

There was a pause. “Dinner. I just made a pasta and bought a salad earlier.”

“Sounds good,” he said.

“Sounds  _ bland _ ,” she complained. “I’m half tempted to throw this in the trash and go to Granny’s.”

He laughed. “Certainly an option.”

If it had been the old times - if she was calling him from her lunch break at work - he would’ve offered to pick it up and bring it to her. He would offer to meet her there. He would offer to drive her there. He would have offered anything to just spend more time with her. But things were different now, and he couldn’t ask her things like that anymore.

Belle gave a dissatisfied sigh. “This baby just wants Granny’s lasagna.”

“Lasagna?” he asked, incredulous.

“Yes, yes,” she said, laughing, “I know of your disdain for it but it’s all I want. I tried making my own spaghetti tonight and it’s just not the same.”

He snorted. “Her lasagna comes overpriced and with an attitude.”

“She cuts the price for me because she likes me.”

“Lucky you,” he said, realizing his car had been idling for quite some time. He put it in drive, the sonogram photo safely next to him in the passenger seat.

 

\---

 

After picking through what was a thoroughly disappointing salad, Belle tossed her dinner in the trash. She’d half-hoped Rumple would offer to bring Granny’s to her, but it would be too much. Too weird. Too soon.

“I’ll let you know what Whale says after my next appointment,” she said briskly and suddenly, trying to keep the conversation going.

“Thank you, Belle,” he said. “Your health and our child’s health are my priority.”

“I know,” she said softly. She just wished he was a little less fiercely protective - nobody had to be hurt for them to be safe. She was cleaning her dishes off, and she could tell he was driving. As she put things away, something flashed at her from a drawer she rarely opened. Picking up the glittering object, she realized it was her wedding ring.

She tutted, setting it back down. It wouldn’t be right to put it on now, but maybe later, maybe if they talked more and after the baby arrived…she wiped away the sudden tears that had appeared in her eyes. She sat back down at her table, after making a cup of hot tea. It often cleared her head, and suddenly the walk to Granny’s felt like miles instead of minutes away.

He must have heard her sniffle, because his next question was a soft, serious, “Are you doing okay?”

There were a hundred ways she could answer this. This question could take seconds or hours to answer.  _ I’m doing well. I’m just fine, given the circumstances. I can’t sleep without thinking of you. I’ve thought about going to the therapist. I can’t bear the staring and judgement from the people in this town. I hate fighting with you. I cried when the nurse called me Mrs. Gold and I wish you had been there to hold my hand when I saw our baby for the first time. I don’t know if I’ll be a good mother. I don’t want to do this alone. I can’t do this alone. I told my father about the baby and he slammed his fist into the wall. I miss you and I love you and I don’t know what to do about that because I can’t be with you. _

“It’s… hard,” she said, after a moment, her voice cracking with the honesty of it.

“I know,” he said. “I know.”

  
  


\---

 

He’d made her upset. That had never been his intention, and now Rumple was sitting in his driveway, one hand rubbing his forehead, the other clutching the phone. He could tell she had cried. Did she dislike talking to him that much? Had he driven her so far away that a phone call was emotionally exhausting? He contemplated telling her he had to go, to put her out of the misery this conversation must be causing her.

“Do you still use that flip phone?” she asked suddenly.

“Um - yeah,” he said, fidgeting. He knew his phone was out of fashion but simple things like the flip phone maintained some normalcy in his otherwise unusual life. 

“I remember when you first got me a phone,” she said. “God, that was so long ago. And the library didn’t have good cell service so you paid to have it fixed.”

She’d called him from the library elevator when Hook had attacked her the first time - he could hardly understand what she was saying, but he was there instantly. She’d run into his arms, and later that day, got shot by the bloody pirate. But they’d gotten past that. Somehow. Their world had been so small back then, even though it seemed quite large at the time.

“We had no idea back then, did we?” she said softly. “No idea what a mess this would all become.”

He thought about saying something about how messes were made to be cleaned, but refrained. Instead, agreed with her.

“No idea at all.”

Rumplestiltskin picked up the photo of their baby again - they’d certainly had no idea this would happen to them. Not in the Dark Castle, not when Belle got shot, not after countless separations. But it was real, and it was happening, and neither of them knew what to do. They’d figure it out eventually, they always did.

 

\---

 

Her tea was getting cold, Belle realized as she absently stirred more sugar into it. It must have been more sweet than it was tea at that point. She got up from the table, looking out at the street. The sun was setting, but when her stomach grumbled, her eyes flickered towards Granny’s. It didn’t seem crowded, and she could make it in just before Granny started closing.

For some reason, she was feeling nostalgic, but she couldn’t help thinking about the future. The baby’s photo was on her fridge, neatly pinned up with a small magnet. She was tracing the edges, wondering if Rumple was doing the same thing. Their phone call was silent, but she didn’t mind it. They were both people who enjoyed being alone, and appreciated comfortable silence, but they were better at doing that together.

She sighed. At least, they were better together some of the time. If ripping her heart out would stop the raw ache she felt in her chest, it might be worth it.

Her stomach grumbled again. “Rumple?”

“Belle,” he replied instantly.

“I have to go.”

“Okay. Thank you again, for the photo.”

“Of course.”

“Goodbye, Belle,” he said, but he didn’t hang up.

“Goodbye, Rumple,” she said quietly.

“I love -” he began, then mumbled something.

She waited, but she couldn’t hear him say what he loved.

“It was nice talking to you,” she said, before clicking off the phone. It was the tiniest step towards communicating civilly with each other, but it  _ was  _ a step. Each day brought its new challenges, but maybe there would be healing in the future.


End file.
